Saturday, January 22, 2005

Plan B OTC?

Today was the day the government was to issue its pronouncement about Plan B: would discriminatory, age-restricted OTC sales of Barr's emergency contraceptive be allowed? Despite Barr's obligatory optimism, not any time soon according to this report:

WASHINGTON - The government has delayed a decision about whether to allow women to buy the morning-after birth control pill over the counter but hopes to act soon, the manufacturer said Friday.

...

Under federal guidelines, the FDA had aimed to have a decision by Friday. But Barr Pharmaceuticals said in a statement Friday that the FDA told the company it was unable to complete its review by then.

"The company remains optimistic that the agency will approve Plan B for OTC sale," Barr said.

The statement said the FDA indicated that "it is committed to completing its review of the application in the near future."

Take a moment to reflect how much the situation has deteriorated when the possibility that the timing of political and religious events is a plausible (and, may I add, likely) explanation for the FDA's decision to delay OTC sales of Plan B.